Claypot Crab & Glass Noodle

Claypot Flower Crab & Glass Noodle (Jan 2012)

As a child, I remember the claypot crab glass noodle as one of my Dad's favourite dish while we were on holiday at Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket.  Then, there wasn't any local restaurants serving this except for a couple of Thai restaurants that sprouted around town. One being the family's favourite weekend makan place in SS2. I can't remember what the place was called then but it is opposite the entrance to Wai Sek Kai. Now it seems that every Chinese seafood restaurant is serving this dish in either the soupy or dry version.

This is a fairly easy dish to prepare. Freshness of the seafood plays a big role  in giving the soup its sweetness. Here I've used the flower crab but in actual fact any shellfish would do too ie. other types of crabs, prawns, clams, etc..

Claypot Crab & Glass Noodle Recipe (Serving for 2)

Ingredients:
1 large flower crab/ 2 small ones as I have used, chopped into pieces
100g of vermicelli / tung fun
30g of thinly sliced pork belly, just enough to line the bottom of your claypot
1 clove of garlic
1 inch ginger, sliced
1 lime, squeezed
Water, enough to fill half your claypot

Garnishing:
2 tbsp fried garlic oil
1 bird's eye chilli , sliced thinly
Chinese parsley

Method:

1. Heat up the claypot. Add a tsp of oil. Place pork belly slices the bottom of the pot and let it sizzle on low fire.
2. Then turn up the heat and add the garlic & ginger. This little trick is to get that fragrant pork flavor without having to use lard in your cooking.
3. Add water and wait until it boils before adding the crabs. 
4. Boil for 3 minutes before adding the vermicelli. You can turn off the fire at this point as vermicelli will cook within seconds at such high temperature.
5. Add squeezed lime juice and stir. Garnish before serving. Serve immediately.